Pet Blogger Challenge 2015

01•10•15

Today is the 5th annual Pet Blogger Challenge, hosted by GoPetFriendly.com. I’ve participated in the past and always appreciate the opportunity to stop and think through what’s going on around here! Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, especially with a million other things going on outside the blog, that I really love this chance to reflect. I re-read last year’s as a starting point, which was interesting to see what has changed… and what hasn’t. So, without further rambling, here we go!

1. How long have you been blogging? And, for anyone stopping by for the first time, please give us a quick description of what your blog is about.

I started in May 2009 – my, how time flies! I blog about dog-related topics – like training, health, animal welfare, pit bull advocacy, dog food, DIYs, etc. – all from the perspective of things that my dogs and I are experiencing together. Everything comes from the context of Emmett, Lucas, and Cooper.

2. Tell us one thing that you accomplished on your blog during 2014 that made you proud.

Chronicling Emmett’s road trip and bucket list! I’m proud that I was able to do all that for him – and plan on doing even more in 2015 – and it was a blast to take everyone on that journey.

3. What lessons have you learned this year – from other blogs, or through your own experience – that could help us all with our own blogs?

It’s nearly impossible to “do it all.” I started reading a handful of non-pet blogs this past year, and I realized that many of them pick a couple social media platforms to focus on and only dabble, if at all, in the rest. It’s tough, I think, for pet bloggers because we want to be everywhere and do everything. Our community is huge and so supportive, so you want to connect everywhere. It’s just not possible. Writing great content needs to be the cornerstone, but then figure out what platforms serve you best and focus on those!

4. What have you found to be the most successful way to bring traffic to your blog, other than by writing great content?

Without a doubt, participating in social media. It’s tough to find the time to keep up with all the platforms (see answer #3), but it’s worthwhile for sure.

5. What was your most popular blog post this year? Did it surprise you that it was your most popular?

Of everything I wrote in 2014, the most trafficked posts were the ones I wrote during “Bark Week.” Apparently lots of people struggle with barking issues! I actually plan to revisit those topics sometime this year because we’ve had to tweak our training methods since Cooper’s belly isn’t tolerating most treats right now. Also, the update posts about Emmett and his oncology appointments have been really popular, too, which touches my heart in a way that you guys could not imagine. I’m incredibly, immeasurably grateful for that.

Interestingly, though, my two most visited posts of the year were ones from 2012 and 2013: Idiopathic Head Tremors and the IHT guest post. I get emails about those two posts weekly. It finally dawned on me (yeah, I’m a little slow) that I should start addressing all the questions I keep getting in some new posts. Look for a few updated IHT posts in 2015!

6. What was your favorite blog post to write this year?

My letter to Molly on the day she went to her forever home. Dang, it was hard to write. I had to pause every few sentences to wipe tears from my eyes – heck, rereading it now made me tear up again! – but it was also so joyful. We fostered her for eight months, so she felt like part of our family. Heading to her forever home was the best possible outcome for her, of course, but man. It was hard. I think this was my favorite because it felt like a good way to close the Molly Chapter.

It didn’t change in 2014, but I am making some sweeping changes in 2015. In fact, I’m in the process of drafting those revisions to update my PR page this month. I really enjoy doing reviews paired with giveaways because the pet product market is so VAST that it’s hard to know what’s worth your hard-earned dollars! However, I faced a number of really frustrating challenges this past year that I need to address going forward.

If you do reviews, what do you find works best, and what doesn’t work at all?

I’m still trying to figure all this out. What doesn’t work, at least not for me, is a straight product review without a paired giveaway. The engagement is just too low to make it worthwhile. I’m trying to find a way to make the giveaways more fun – maybe photo contests or something – than just simply filling out a widget. I’ve also had a lot of luck doing “private” reviews and giveaways through my newsletter; only subscribers get in on those opportunities, and it’s worked well for brands because it’s a more “exclusive” list. But, as I mentioned in part one of this question, I had a ton of big challenges with reviews/giveaways in 2014, especially with the holiday gift guide, so I’m striving to fix those going forward.

8. What’s your best piece of advice for other bloggers?

Be you!! Seriously strive to be authentic with every post, tweet, and status update. Readers can tell when you’re faking it or being insincere. Being authentic attracts and, more importantly, retains readers! I’m really excited that I get to talk about this topic at BlogPaws this year because I believe in it so wholeheartedly. Craft your posts so that your readers feel like they’re talking to YOU! This is such a personal platform. Expressing your authentic self is vital for success!

9. What goals do you have for your blog in 2015?

A new design: This was a goal for last year, but with all of Emmett’s cancer stuff, it just wasn’t in the budget. I’ve set aside some money for it this year and will be working with a WordPress designer to create a site that reflects my vision!

Send tons of “value-added” content in my monthly newsletter; make it a joy for readers to open!

This is more of a personal goal, but it’s related: Develop a thicker skin.

Improve the photography: I don’t have a camera, so I either need to learn how to use my cell phone better or, gulp, invest in a camera.

10. If you could ask the pet blogging community for help with one challenge you’re having with your blog, what would it be?

This is hard to articulate – which is EXACTLY why I need help – ha! So, I get so many emails every week asking all sorts of questions about training specific behaviors I’ve written about, or millions of questions about Cooper’s diet (especially now that we’re homecooking for him), questions about how to introduce a new dog to existing dogs, questions about head tremors and allergies and how to start a blog and so on. Recently I realized (again, a little slow here) that I’m spending more than an hour each week answering question emails that come from the blog. Which I’ll continue to do, of course, but I’m really seriously debating creating some online/e-course offerings about some of the most requested topics. I guess my question is… would anyone even enroll in those? Would it be better to just do a series of FAQ-style posts and direct emailers there? Or could a series of courses provide enough value? I’d LOVE any input!!!

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Whew! Thanks to our friends at GoPetFriendly.com for hosting this event again this year! I plan on spending chunks of time over the weekend reading through all the other responses – I always learn SO MUCH from reading everyone else’s insights. Can’t wait!

We cannot wait to see the changes that 2015 holds for you! We do a lot of reviews and begun to insist that we are given the opportunity for a giveaway, otherwise its not worth anyone’s time. We can’t wait to pick your brain about some of the challenges you have faced with reviews!

That’s so funny, Jen, because I consider YOU a hero! After all you’ve been through this past year, you remain sweet, funny, entertaining, and so down-to-earth! Can’t wait to read your PBC answers. I’m going through them a couple a at a time, so it may take me two weeks to get there… 😉

Really interesting you get that many emails with questions. On your question for ideas, maybe those questions could be the basis of your saturday (or whatever day of the week) posts, in a category/series/feature, “Ask Maggie”, where you run a question and its answer weekly?

That is a great suggestion!! I think because I’ve written about a handful of fairly uncommon issues, like the tremors and food allergies, people who are experiencing the same thing are desperate for help – like I was!! I think a series is a brilliant idea. Thank you so much for taking the time to share! Looking forward to reading your PBC response!

That’s great that you get so many questions. I like Kenzo’s idea of turning those answers into a blog post series like an “Ask Maggie” series or some such. (You’ve reminded me that I’ve been meaning to do an IHT post about Rita!)

Oh, my gosh! Jackie, please do an IHT post about Rita!!! I would LOVE to compare notes. I think the reason I get so many questions is that there are practically no resources out there for some of the issues Coop faces. I love the series idea, too! Thanks so much for weighing in. Looking forward to getting to your PBC post!

Someone else on this hop (boy, how hard is it to keep all this reading straight?) mentioned that search engine visitors are much more likely to buy when they hit your site than your regular visitors.

I do earn some money from affiliate sales. And it’s nearly always people who found a post because they searched for something, not my regular readers. You may want to factor that into your thinking and planning re: reviews and sponsored posts.

I agree with Kenzo and Jackie about incorporating the questions into your blog. Kristine of Rescued Insanity used to do something like that where she made her suggestion and opened it up to commenters. You get lots of great engagement and may find solutions you never thought of.

So much to think about! Thank you for sharing your expertise. I always am so grateful for your input, Pamela! That’s especially interesting re: affiliate sales. I think that’s something I need to look into in a bit more detail. Thanks so much for taking the time to respond!

I’m slowing chipping away at the PBC responses and can’t wait to get to yours! I’m sure it’ll be even more inspiring!!

I think either way to handle the incoming questions would be good. I made more of an effort in 2014 to answer questions in blog posts and then point people there when they asked….instead of sucking my time answering the same questions over and over. I really like the idea of making an e-course out of the appropriate ones. I am not sure how well one would do but you should totally try and see.

I really enjoyed getting to know you better last October at the Pet Blogger Summit. I hope to get time to talk at BlogPaws this year!

I don’t get a lot of questions via e-mail, most of them are through my blog and those I answer on Follow-Up Friday. On the rare occasion I DO get a question via e-mail I usually answer it directly, but if you’re getting a lot of them, I can see how difficult that would be.

Slimdoggy has a Dear Labby column where readers send in questions and Jack or Maggie answers them. And Pamela is spot on with incorporating it into a post, that should bring a lot of engagement and open conversations about training. 🙂

Your answers are so thoughtful, and so helpful! They give me even more to think about. I agree about reviews and giveaways, and I’ve started asking for that a lot more when asked to review something.
I think the idea of an e-course is great, but for me, I would find it hard to fit something like that into my schedule, even though I’d love to take one that you taught! The fact that you get so many email questions just proves how much people respect your knowledge. I think as some said that a question and answers post might work best.

Great advice on choosing the social media platforms that best serve you and focusing on them.

I actually have the same dilemma with trying to answer questions on a weekly basis. In fact, right now I’m back logged with about 50 questions in my queue because I haven’t had internet at my house for a couple weeks. It’s getting quite daunting. I’m not sure if it’s the same for you, but I do get the same questions over and over and I started writing blog posts to answer the common questions.

By the way, I have also thought about doing the online e-course to answer these questions, but it’s a much bigger step then just writing blog posts to answer questions. If you do go this direction I’d love to pick your brain.

Great answers Maggie – and it sounds like you have great plans for the coming year. Regarding the email questions, it does sound like a series of Ask Maggie posts is in order, which you could archive or possibly repackage into an ebook?

Thank you, Maggie, for participating in the Challenge again this year. I always love reading your answers and seeing where you’re planning to take OMD, and Emmett’s road trip was one of my favorite things to happen in 2014. I love that boy! And now I’m really excited to see your new design!

As for the email questions, I definitely think you should find a way to incorporate those answers into your blog, or an e-book, or something so you can stop typing the same answers over and over again. If some of the topics would lend themselves to an instructional course, video, or maybe an ebook – I think you should give that a shot for sure! You’d likely learn a lot putting it together, and perhaps you could charge a little for it – or maybe only provide it to people who have signed up for your newsletter as a way of growing that audience. Whatever you decide, I’m sure it will be great. Give all the furries a hug – I hope you all have a great 2015.

Hi, Roger! Thanks for commenting. I honestly couldn’t remember what was on my 2015 list, so I went back to check… Considering the loops that we were thrown in 2015 and the loss of sweet Lucas, I’m pretty proud of what I did accomplish. Gotta say, though, that 2016 hasn’t been quite as productive as I had hoped, but progress not perfection, right? Thanks so much for commenting!